CHAPTER SEVEN: TROUBLE COMES IN THREE

~ Marie ~

Marie sat at the table sipping her coffee, hoping the caffeine would kick in soon. She’d woken up from another nightmare and was still feeling groggy. Normally, after something like that, she would be fine to start her day but she hadn’t gotten much sleep last night either.

Periodically throughout the night, she’d been woken up by the howling of wolves. There were occasions where she’d been about to doze off and more howling would wake her up. Later when she’d woken up from her nightmare, the adrenaline rush she normally got afterwards only lasted long enough for her to get up and make coffee. Now she was just drained. She couldn’t even take a nap later like she normally would have done. With Adrian close by, she needed to get as much work as she could done. Marie frowned. She needed to get used to this soon or she wouldn’t be getting anywhere.

Marie glared at her coffee. She should have tried harder to find some way to counter the blood link but she hadn’t found anything new. If only she’d spent more time looking. It was likely that the blood link was still active. It’d only been about a week since he’d done it. Since he was a Master vampire, a week was probably the very minimum it should last. Then again given his smirk from last night, she had a feeling it would last another week. Maybe more. Not like asking would help. Adrian wouldn’t tell her.

She sighed before she took another sip. Marie was still a little tired. She glanced at the coffee maker. Would three cups of coffee be too much for the afternoon?

Marie stood up and stared at the pitcher for a moment. She emptied out the rest of the coffee in the sink and cleaned it with magic. She needed to get further along in her investigation before Adrian woke up. There wasn’t enough information. The only thing she knew for sure was that someone had activated something near the barn and near Leon’s house. She glanced at her watch. It was too late for lunch and too soon for dinner. The werewolves probably wouldn’t be at the main house but maybe, if she was lucky, Peter would be. She needed to ask him if any of the wolves could use magic. If it was a pack member then she would be able to narrow things down quickly.

Marie closed the front door behind her as she scanned the area for magic. Her eyes stopped on three men just inside the forest. They were dressed similarly in faded jeans and t-shirts. Their build and height were similar too, though the one in the center was slightly taller than the other two. The real difference between them was the color of their hair. Blond, brown, and black. The blond in the center gave her a brief nod before they turned and went into the forest. Did they know something or did they just want to see who she was? Marie went to the main house but stopped at the back door when she heard an angry voice.

“..is the Guardian going to help?! What do we even need her here for?” That sounded like Grayson.

“Were you even listening? Dad told us— ”

“Dad’s not here right now! We don’t need her!” Peter had begun to talk but his voice was cut off by Grayson again.

“Calm down. She’s not going to be here forever. She’s only going to be here until the end of the Rite then she’s leaving.” That was Abigail’s voice.

“If Dad hadn’t gotten sick….” Grayson continued to speak, his sullen voice dropping to a whisper. She couldn’t hear the last part.

“You know that it’s not just that. He wanted to pass the leadership on.” Abigail’s voice sounded like it moved further into the room. Marie barely heard what she was saying. She thought about heading inside but the siblings would probably hear her. “Now Peter and I are going into town to pick up some things. Try not to start any fights. Ok?” Abigail’s voice sounded like it was starting to head towards her now. Getting louder with every word.

“Fine.” Grayson’s voice was also starting to get closer. It was time for her to leave before they found her there. Talking to Peter would have to wait until he came back. Marie walked halfway back to the room before she changed course and started walking towards the forest. It wasn’t as early as she would like but this way she should be able to see more of the forest than she’d seen yesterday.

Just inside the trees, something purple caught her eye. Marie knelt down. It was a small purple flower. She glanced around looking for the place it came from but didn’t find any other flowers near her. Marie stood up. Jesse had mentioned something about seeing a purple flower yesterday at the second magic spot. Did this have something to do with the magic that was left behind? It was something to look into later. She glanced around but didn’t see anything else that caught her eye. Marie picked a direction at random and headed deeper into the forest.

After about ten minutes of walking, Marie found a small area where she could sit. So far, she hadn’t picked up any magic on the way here but with any luck, she might pick up something once she extended her range. She placed a slightly stronger barrier than she normally used on herself. Marie scanned the ground for any bugs or large rocks before she sat down and tried to get comfortable. Marie took one last look at her surroundings. There was nothing out of the ordinary. She wrote out the spell on her right arm before filling it with magic. This spell would allow her to double her magic sensing range. Marie closed her eyes and pulled her focus inward. Slowly, she pushed her focus outward, extending her senses little by little. Once she reached her limit, she held it there. She already felt the strain from holding her senses out this far but this was necessary. Given how large the area was, this was just a fraction of the total area she could be searching.

Marie wasn’t sure how long she stayed sitting there, waiting for something. A headache was beginning to form in the back of her eyes. If she shut her senses down and rested, the headache would go away but she didn’t want to do that just yet. Marie tried to push her range out just a little further but she was already at max range. She couldn’t go any further. Marie froze. It was like something brushed up against her senses. Someone was using magic. Marie jumped up and nearly fell over. She leaned against a tree for support before she rushed to get to where she felt the magic.

She stumbled several times on her way there. Tree roots and uneven terrain were proving difficult for her to navigate along with the fact that she hadn’t shut down the spell properly. The recoil was causing her to feel tired and a little out of focus. Marie stopped after nearly tripping once again. She leaned against a tree to catch her breath. At the rate she was going, the magic user was probably already gone. She sighed in frustration. It was possible that the spell being used was harmless but with pack leadership on the line, she couldn’t just hope that something terrible wouldn’t happen. She needed to think of a better way to find out who was using magic.

A branch snapped to her left and she straightened up. She still had her barrier up. It should be able to absorb a good deal of damage but, just in case, Marie got ready to use her sleep spell. A man stepped out from behind a tree and she waited to see what he’d do. It looked like one of the men that had been staring at her earlier. The one with blond hair stood there, looking her over.

“Did you need something?” He looked her up and down a moment more before his gaze settled on her face.

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“Wanted to see the Guardian.” He leered at her as he took a step closer.

“You saw me and now I need to go.” The magic user might be gone but they might have left something behind. She had a general idea of where the magic had come from. If she hurried, she might find a stronger trace of magic left behind. Maybe even see what spell they’d used. Marie stepped back to put distance between them.

“Hold on. I didn’t get a good look.” Another man, the one with brown hair, stood to her right. She turned and found the last man, the one with black hair behind her, blocking her in. Marie kept her back against a nearby tree as she eyed them. The barrier would take care of the first attack then she could put them to sleep if she needed to.

“Touch me and you won’t like the consequences.” The three men laughed as they took another step closer.

She waited.

The three of them were only a few feet away. Marie tensed. If she couldn’t put them to sleep fast enough then she needed to be ready to shock them. It would only be a last resort, though. She didn’t want to cause any problems for the pack. Attacking outsiders wouldn’t look impartial. Either way, she needed to finish this up quickly and be on her way.

“I can’t get a good look if y’all don’t move out of the way.” Jesse leaned against a tree a couple of feet away. His smile didn’t reach his eyes as he stood up and started walking towards them.

“What do you want?” The blond straightened up to his full size.

“Ganging up on a woman isn’t very gentlemanly.”

“Ganging up? We just wanted to talk to the Guardian. Isn’t that right?” He smirked as the other men went to stand beside him. They laughed but the sound was harsh.

“Well, let me know when y’all are done. I wanted to speak to the Guardian too.” He went back to leaning against a tree. “I’ll just wait right here.” The one with black hair muttered something but she couldn’t hear it from here. The one with brown hair took a step forward but Jesse didn’t move an inch.

“Hold on. We can resolve this.” The blond haired man put his arms out in front of the other two, keeping them back. He grinned maliciously. “The werewolf way of course. Unless you don’t think you can win?” The man turned around and headed back towards her. “We’ll just go back to having a chat with the Guardian.”

“Let’s do it.” Jesse stood and took a step forward.

“Then let’s go.” The three of them turned into wolves. They stared at Jesse for a moment before the gray and white wolf led the way. The reddish brown wolf and white wolf followed him as they disappeared behind some brush. Jesse glared at them for a moment before looking at her.

“You should head back. It’s not safe to be out here in the dark.” It was getting darker but she didn’t need the warning. He transformed into a large black wolf that had a small splotch of white around his throat.

“I—.” Too late. Jesse glanced at her before he raced after the others. Tsk. Those three used her to bait Jesse. Their goal was to cut down on the competition. During the Rite of Accord, any wolf could compete for the pack’s leadership. Outsiders could also compete but participation was more dangerous for them. There was no way to tell if an outsider left because they wanted to or if they were chased away. It made them easy targets.

She stared at the direction they had gone. They had to have gone far so that there wouldn’t be any witnesses. There was no way for her to follow them and stop whatever they were doing. She couldn’t even walk normally, let alone run. Marie shook her head before she rushed towards the signal again. It took a couple of minutes before she reached the general area where she’d felt the magic. There was no way to tell if she was in the right area with the magic gone but maybe the area itself would give her clues. She looked around. This area looked the same as everywhere else she had walked. The only thing that stood out was a large hill to the left of her. It was almost double her height.

Marie climbed the hill and looked around. A large bush blocked the very top of the hill so she wasn’t able to go all the way up. The bush was mostly made up of bare branches with a few leaves here and there. She noticed something white at the very bottom and moved closer to get a better look. Marie knelt down and moved the leaves out of the way. A white piece of paper was wrapped around a red flower. The magic activated and smoke started to rise out of the talisman. Marie shoved her hand into the bush and pulled out the talisman. Marie held her breath as she burned the talisman along with the flower. It was better not to take any chances so she purified the air with a quick spell before she stopped holding her breath. Marie frowned. She didn’t get a very good look at the talisman but the placement and smoke looked like a trap to her.

The area needed to be checked for other traps. She glanced around again but couldn’t figure out why someone would want to booby trap this area. The only difference she saw was this hill. Was there something in the area being protected?

Marie picked another direction at random. She kept a lookout for any large hills as she roamed. The trap looked like it was supposed to take advantage of the height to drop the smoke on unsuspecting passersby. Now she just needed to find another one and study it before the spell activated. There. She found another hill about the same size as the other one. Marie was careful as she came upon the peak. There was a bush up here as well, though this one was more green.

She knelt down. There was another paper nestled at the bottom of this bush. If she went any closer, the talisman would activate. She already knew what their magic signature felt like but if she triggered this one, she might actually be able to see the magic user themselves. With a plan in mind, Marie plunged her hand into the bush. She yanked her hand back and studied the spell as quickly as possible. Smoke was pouring out and flowing over the hill. Once she had read the entire spell, she dropped the flower and wrote out a special kind of barrier that wouldn’t allow any air to escape. With that done, she scanned the area for any sign of movement or magic.

The magic signature was the same so that meant this was the same person. But why were they putting up traps? What was the point? The talisman was made to enhance the properties of the poppy and put anyone who smelled the smoke to sleep. The problem was that this seemed to be aimed at no one in particular. The trigger was proximity based so anyone who came too close would trigger the talisman regardless of who it was. What would be the point in putting random people to sleep? She looked around again. The talisman had already burned up yet no one had shown up.

Did they figure out she was out here waiting for them? Or were they still on their way? She would wait a little bit longer to see if something happened but she shouldn’t leave the smoke here. Marie dispelled the barrier. The smoke started to spread out as she wrote out another spell. The smoke faded away and the air was now safe to breathe. Marie stood up and it felt like the ground was swaying beneath her feet. She took a step back but it was a step too many. The edge of the hill crumbled away. Marie reached out, hoping to grab the bush but her fingers only brushed against the leaves. She tensed as she braced herself for the fall but it was cut short.

"I've got you." Adrian helped steady her before letting go. "What happened?"

"Nothing." She must have wasted more time than she thought. Marie frowned as she glanced at her watch. Seven-thirty.

"I wouldn't call this nothing." He lifted her arm and gently rotated it to see all of the scratches. She had been too busy to heal her arms. Finding out what magic was being used was her number one priority. Marie closed her eyes and healed both her arms. What was she going to do now? With him here, it only made investigating more difficult. She didn't need him trying to force his way into her case.

"I wasn't following you." She opened her eyes and stared at him. He had his polite mask on. "I was taking a walk when I saw you having trouble."

"I was fine." He ignored her comment and kept talking but his lips twitched for a moment.

“This isn’t that far from where Leon lives.” Was it really that close? She’d been picking directions at random so she assumed she was much further away. Adrian pointed behind her. She looked but she couldn't see Leon's house from here. Or feel the magic. How he knew where it was, was a mystery to her. Everything looked the same. Trees, trees, and more trees. Nevermind. That wasn't important right now. What was important was getting away from him without giving him any more information.

"Did you need something?"

"Do you have somewhere you need to be?" Tsk. Marie pressed her lips together for a moment before answering.

"No." His smile turned smug before he gestured for her to go first. Marie started down the hill as she thought over her options. Teleport seemed to be her only option. She just needed to put enough distance between her and Adrian. Marie stopped.

"What is it?" There it was again. The same magic signature. It wasn't that far from where she currently was. But what was she going to do about her other problem?